Canadian champion Eye of the Leopard retires to Calumet

Michael Burns

Canadian champion Eye of the Leopard has been retired and will stand at Calumet Farm in 2013.

Canadian champion and classic winner Eye of the Leopard has been retired and will enter stud at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky.

The 7-year-old A.P. Indy horse will stand for an initial fee of $10,000.

Eye of the Leopard was purchased in 2012 by Brad Kelley's Bluegrass Hall LLC. Kelley assumed control of Calumet last year, leasing the farm from a trust that purchased the historic property. Eye of the Leopard becomes the fourth stallion added to the roster for 2013, joining Americain, Aikenite and Lentenor. All are first-year stallions.

Eye of the Leopard won the 2009 Plate Trial Stakes and subsequently claimed the Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, in just his fourth career start.

He then finished third in the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the series. The campaign earned him the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion 3-year-old colt.

Eye of the Leopard retires with five wins from 24 career starts and two additional stakes placings for earnings of $920,517.

Out of the Smart Strike mare Eye of the Sphynx, herself a Canadian champion, Eye of the Leopard is a full brother to multiple stakes winner Hotep, runner-up in the 2010 Queen's Plate. Eye of the Sphynx is a half-sister to stakes winner Quiet Cleo, dam of 2000 Canadian Horse of the Year Quiet Resolve.